Coraline: 25 Years Later
by NBLE999
Summary: Coraline is all grown up now with a daughter of her own. She heads back to the Pink Palace, which jogs a few memories back from when she was a child.
1. Chapter 1

25 Years Later

The rain started to come down just as the car drove into town. As Coraline focused her attention to the road, her daughter was fixated on the many pedestrians that all gathered for the annual Shakespeare festival, kneeling on her seat.

"Rachel! Sit down or you'll hurt yourself if the car comes to a stop!" Coraline warned. Her daughter slumped back down in her seat, wearing the biggest pout in the world.

As she waited for the lights to change green, Rachel piped up, "Mom, why are there so many people dressed up in weird clothes?"

With a soft chuckle, Coraline answered, "It's because the Shakespeare festival is on. Sometimes people like to take part and dress up in clothes from that era."

"Didn't you say that Shakespeare was boring in school?"

"Yeah, but hey I got good grades with my essays," her mother beamed. No response from her daughter who was still pouting at the window.

Coraline chuckled to herself as that reminded her of when her daughter was young.

Just then, the light changed and the car was on its way to the Pink Palace.

The car pulled up into the drive as Wyborn looked on. He opened the door to say hello to his daughter and asked, "Hey Beansprout! How was the car journey here?"

"Unexciting, apart from all the people wearing Shakespeare clothes," she bluntly answered.

"Hey don't forget about that fallen tree earlier on!" Coraline quipped.

"Yeah, but it's not as interesting as a festival that a bunch of theatre nerds put on," Rachel shrugged.

"Hey! Your mom and I were pretty good in the theatre," Wyborn interjected.

"Oh yeah, well at least I didn't forget my lines one time in Hamlet," his wife teased.

"Yes, and you almost didn't show up to star in King Lear because –" he was cut off by a sharp nudge to the forearm.

"Hey, it was my dad's fault for not buying petrol!" she replied, half laughing.

Already disinterested with this light – hearted quarrel, Rachel tugged on her mother's sleeve and asked, "Can I go out and explore the garden?"

"Yes, you can. Just don't go to far beyond the garden," Coraline said.

As Rachel set out for the garden, her dad called out, "Just remember to avoid the poison oak!"

Rachel rolled her eyes at this statement. She's been on more nature walks to count with her dad and already knows pretty much every poisonous plant there is to find. She's certainly not _that_ stupid to just pick it up.

When she reached the garden gate, she pushed it open and gazed at all the flowers growing in the flowerbeds. She was told that before her mother moved here, it looked very barren and grey, but soon enough it managed to look beautiful again when her family and neighbours planted some tulips. Now all the flowerbeds had their own unique colour of flower, all of which were shades of red and orange. _Why didn't they make it more interesting and add different coloured flowers to every bed? I don't see why all the flowers here are just autumn colours._

Suddenly, a small noise from the end of the garden caught her attention. Turning around, she scanned the back gate to see what it was. Was it the gate swinging in the wind? Her eyes caught a small shrub rustling excitedly, upon which a small black cat jumped out.

Rachel chuckled as the cat gave her the most petrified stare ever. She took a few steps forward and said, "Aww, were you scared of me?"

In response, the little cat darted up the hill. She wanted to go follow it but had to make sure her mother wasn't anywhere to be seen in the kitchen window. She squinted her eyes up at the house and focused on the kitchen window. Only her granddad was there, back facing the garden. She cautiously stepped out through the front gate and made her way around the garden wall to the hill. While walking, she swore to herself that she'd only be gone for a minute.

She quietly whispered to the trees, hoping the little cat would come out, "Come on, kitty! I won't hurt you. Come on, kitty!" She craned her neck around hoping for some sign but all she could see were shadows that were easily dark enough for the cat to blend in.

"Was the garden too small for you?"

Rachel abruptly turned around to find Coraline standing there, with a slightly disapproving look on her face.

"I – I was just…" she stammered.

Her mother's frown changed into a gentle smile as she walked over and tussled her hair, much to her annoyance. She looked down at the garden and said, "It's okay, kiddo. I'd easily get bored when I was your age."

Rachel looked down and noted, "You know, it would look better with some blue flowers. Like, around the edge of the garden."

"Why blue?" asked Coraline, vaguely remembering a different garden.

"Because blue is a calming colour, too much red and orange makes it look angry," her daughter replied.

Coraline mused on how insightful her daughter was as an artist. She most likely passed it down to her since she was pretty creative as well. Still, the thought of blue flowers jogged a forbidden memory in her head, one that reminded her of a world that was indeed too good to be true. A memory which also reminded her of _that creature_.

"Come on, Rachel," she said, "let's go in and set everything up for Nana's birthday."

Everything went well, people were having a nice time, the food was pretty tasty, as it always was whenever Great Aunt Sherry was behind the stove. Rachel was having fun, playing hide and seek with her second cousins, in which she was the seeker. Soon enough, one of her other cousins had to be the seeker so she needed to find a good place to hide. They were running out of good hiding spots so, some of them went to hide outside instead, sneaking around cars and such. One hid under the dining room table, while Rachel went off into the sitting room.

She remembered that there was a little door in the living room and scurried off there. Some adults, including her dad, were just talking and she quickly ran to the door and pulled on it.

Locked.

Desperately, she hid in the small crowd of adults that were all sitting or standing in front of the fireplace. To her fortune, her father placed his oversized brown jacket over her as a means of concealment. Thankfully, she wasn't found that easily, but still felt a little miffed that the door was locked. Soon enough, the excitement of the party gave way to tiredness, and all the guests went home.

Coraline and Wyborn drove with their sleeping daughter in the backseat of the car. She was propped up against the car window and wrapped in her father's jacket. She was dead to the world, she didn't even stir as.

As they drove further and further along, Wyborn said, "Well, I think that party went well, don't you?"

"Yeah," his wife uttered.

"It would be nice to go back there again, despite…you know…"

Soon enough, they came to a stop at the train crossing, where Coraline turned to her husband.

"It's not that I don't think that place isn't safe for her, I love taking her to see her grandparents," she began, "it's just…"

She sighed, propping her head slightly against her fingers.

"You don't need to explain," he said.

"No, Wybie. I just want to feel that I can trust her to take care of herself without having to worry about the possibility of EVERY bad thing happening to her," she explained.

Wyborn was a little stunned that she called him by his old nickname.

"Sometimes, I still have dreams that she's still alive or that her hand has escaped. That she's stealing different kids away through different doors. I know it sounds paranoid of me but…"

"Hey, don't worry too much about Rachel. She's pretty brave and smart for her age, kinda like you were back then. Also, I'm not trying to brush this off but I'm pretty sure that witch can't hurt anyone ever again."

Coraline half – smiled before replying, "It just…unnerves me to think what could've happened if I said yes. How my parents would've felt if I was missing."

"I can't even imagine how it must've been for Gramma when her sister disappeared," he added.

There was an awkward silence as the train quickly disappeared between bushels of trees, before the gates opened again for the car to pass through.

When they finally reached their house, Coraline tapped hard on the window her daughter was sleeping against. Rachel stirred and tiredly got out of the car, leaning slightly against her mother's arm, her head feeling slightly heavy after the long car journey.

As soon as she was in bed, her mother came in to say goodnight, to which she softly replied, "Mom…you know I'm too old for that."

"I know," Coraline chuckled, "I just want you to have a good night's sleep that's all."

She turned towards the door before: "Hey, mom?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Who were you talking about in the car?"

Coraline hesitated. Did she really hear all of that?! No, she was completely out cold, she must have been.

"No – one, sweetie. Now go to sleep," she whispered, planting a light kiss on her daughter's forehead.

Coraline soon got ready for bed, thinking over what she might want to tell her daughter. After mulling over it quite a bit, she decided to tell her daughter the story of some weird old woman who tried to steal her near the Pink Palace. Not really far off from the truth, but at least it will sound believable. Hopefully, she'll forget that conversation she and Wyborn had in the car that evening.

As she and her husband settled into bed, Coraline stayed up a little bit thinking about her visit to the other world. She thought of how everything seemed so colourful, fun, warm and safe; how more open and friendly the residents seemed and how close she was to wanting to stay there. She couldn't get the Other Mother out of her mind, her thin, ruby smile which slowly eroded to a crooked hollow grin, like a spider eyeing its prey.

She thought back on her last words, "I'll die without you!" Would she really have died after that encounter? Is that little door in her old living room the only access she has to the real world? Hopefully she is no longer a threat, _hopefully_.

She turned around and closed her eyes, praying that she wouldn't see the hag in her dreams that night.

A/N: Hi folks! Thank you all for reading my first fanfic. Please leave nice comments and give polite constructive criticism in the comments. Have a lovely evening! Cheers!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Diary

Rachel had to spend the evening at her grandparents' house due to her parents working late…again. Not that she minded, at least it would give her the chance to explore beyond the garden. After her grandmother, Mel, dropped her off at the Pink Palace, she turned to the inquisitive young girl and asked, "Did you remember your homework, hon?"  
"Begrudgingly," she replied smartly./span/p  
"Well make sure it's all finished after dinner okay?," Mel added, taking two full grocery bags from the car.  
"Don't worry Nana, I'm doing fine in school. I just wish that every grown – up would stop bugging me about it," the young girl sighed.  
"Well, isn't it our job to bug you about it?" Mel teased.  
Rachel said nothing and just smirked at her grandmother's response. Even if she finds her parents, and even grandparents, annoying about school and other things, they still had a very close rapport. The only thing was she often found her mother to fuss over too many things.  
As she headed up the stairs, her thoughts gradually drifted towards her mother's behaviour. Was she always a nervous kid? No, she said that she'd always go exploring the grounds after school, at least until she left home. Even her grandmother said that she was a very outdoors – type person. It's just that whenever both Rachel and Coraline went out to, say a park or a nature trail, places they normally visited together with her father Wybie, she'd always insist that the girl stay close, regardless if holding hands was involved.  
Maybe something jarring happened to her that's making her act this way, the girl thought as she rested on her mother's old bed. She's definitely not nosy but she definitely has the urge to keep an eye on me all the time.  
Time passed by incredibly slowly, and by this time, Rachel was poking around the room out of boredom. Her mother kept a number of books in the concealed press underneath her window and only had a few mementos from elementary, middle and high school awkwardly shuffled away in her cramped, dusty closet. Rachel flicked curiously through her mother's yearbooks and photo albums and smiled as she noticed that her mother's name was misspelled as "Caroline" three times in elementary school. Fortunately, they managed to get it right when she entered middle school.  
As she put the yearbooks back, she noticed one of the skirting boards appeared a little loose. She gently pulled on it to loosen it a little before managing to pry it away from the wall with ease. There was a small, dark alcove behind the skirting board from which a few tiny spiders scuttled out into the light.  
Cautiously fumbling her fingers in the tiny void, she felt a small plastic sheet that enveloped a small rectangular shape. She reached further in and began to pull out a tiny diary. She incidentally bumped the diary off something else hidden within the alcove and pulled it out to reveal a small wooden box.  
After brushing the dust of both the concealed diary and the box, she set them up on the concealed press to look at them better in the light. The diary was like that of any average girl's: shiny green circles with different patterns on a purple background. The box was a faded, rusty red with the faint painting of a small robin in the centre of the lid. Fortunately for her, there was no lock and she opened it with ease.  
To her confusion, there was only a small cluster of tiny shards resting on the velvet lining. They were all of different colour, red, black and pearl, by the looks of it. She picked one up and noticed that one had two sides of a star. There was also a small ring in the box and some of the black shards had white flecks of paint on them.

Puzzled, she set the box down and opened up her mother's diary. Its first few pages were dated around 2002, which was a hell of a long time to Rachel. The first few pages outlined her frustrations about her parents moving from Pontiac, Michigan as well as her insatiable boredom during the first two days in the Pink Palace. Rachel smiled and couldn't help but think, Wow, I guess my mom really was kinda like me.  
As she read further, she was surprised to read her mother's adventures through the tiny door in the living room. That door has been locked for God knows how long and no key could be ever found. Rachel eyes widened as her mother described in great detail of all the treats and wonders this "other world" had to offer. How she tasted the greatest food in the world, how this world had a garden planted in her likeness, how the toys were great, how the neighbours were fantastic, how everyone paid attention to her. It sounded like every child's dream come true, however the one thing that stood out to her was how all its inhabitants were idealised, polished doppelgängers of everyone she knew, except they had big, black buttons for eyes.  
That alone was horrifying.  
The next few entries really startled the young girl as she read further:  
"It's been over 6 hours and I'm getting scared! Mom and Dad still aren't home yet and I don't know why. Sure, I've always wanted the house to myself since we moved here, but not like this! When I got back, Mom's groceries were left rotting away on the table. I rang Dad's phone but he doesn't have it…  
How long was I gone? I couldn't stay there after what she told me what she wants to do to me: sew buttons in my eyes. She's even done it to three other kids that are trapped behind a mirror. I don't know if I should go back there. If my folks aren't back tomorrow, I'll have to ask one of the neighbours to ring the police…"

"It's me again. I'll fill you in on what happened. That witch took my parents and trapped them to lure me back there. But it's okay because I got them back! I just had to play a little game of hers to retrieve my parents and the dead children's souls. Those souls were hidden as a ring, a gear and a ball that I found with the green seeing stone. Mom and Dad don't remember anything, which is just as well because who'd wanna remember something like that? I'm so glad they're home…"

"Hi, just wanted to fill in on what happened last night before the garden party. SHE tried to take it, she tried to take the key. The only part of her that came to this world was her right hand. It was so frightening, it just jumped and grabbed it before I could take the key from around my neck. Thank God Wybie was there. After some talking, he finally believed me…"  
Regan looked up in confusion, bewilderment and great unease as she apprehensively closed the diary. Did her mother really see all that stuff when she was a kid? Why did it happen behind that little door? Is any of this real? Knowing her mother, there may have been some truth behind it, because she rarely lies. At least, that's how she came to the reason in her young mind.  
Before she could think any more about it, she heard her grandmother shout, "Rachel! Dinner's ready!"  
"Coming!" she called back, before putting the box and diary back in the little alcove.

**A/N: Hi everyone! I decided to add another chapter onto my first fanfic. I kind of felt that it needed a little more action to it. So I may put in at least four more chapters onto it. However, I won't be writing that much as I intend to focus on my studies. I may leave a 1 chapter story here and there occasionally and I might go back to writing during the holidays! I also want to add a second chapter to my Undertale story after the Christmas exams, so keep an eye out for that! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Nightmare

Coraline managed to bring Rachel home that night after finally escaping from work, just before it lashed down. As she drove on to their home, she mentally noted how it had been raining heavily recently, and thought of how it wouldn't be long before the heavens would start raining down. Meanwhile, Rachel kept quiet in the back of the car, thinking over what she had read and pondering if what her mother experienced was indeed real.

The evening was uneventful, they had pizza just as Wybie came home and watched some old horror movies together. Both Coraline and Wybie bonded over their love of old horror movies such as Psycho, Night of the Living Dead and various creature features from when they were both young adolescents. Soon enough, when Rachel came into the picture, she shared their love of these films with her parents.

Coraline had dozed off a little, holding onto the bowl of popcorn in her arm, before bolting awake close to the movie's conclusion. As the credits rolled, Coraline stretched her arms as Rachel yawned. Suddenly, her daughter laid a hand on her arm and asked, "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Y – yeah, sure hon," she muttered tiredly, "fire away."

"So, when I was staying with Gramma today…I decided to look around your old bedroom a bit."

Coraline, who had been listening attentively to her daughter, chuckled and replied with a smile, "Oh, don't worry! You have every right of access to my old room! So, did you find anything interesting?"

Rachel smiled awkwardly before answering, "Well, I found your diary…"

Coraline slightly froze. Did she read those entries about when she was visiting the other world? She probably wouldn't believe her at all, Rachel wasn't that kind of girl.

She laughed slightly nervously and said, "Oh, I used to write a ton of stories in that thing! It's nothing to worry about."

"Okay…it's just that…you sounded really afraid in those entries. Did something happen that made you write them?"

Coraline and Rachel looked at each other, with a great sense of concern and unease between them. The only sound in the room was that of Wybie snoring and the static from the TV. The blue haired woman shifted awkwardly in her seat a little and explained, "Well, what you read was true. I never really told anyone except your father…because I knew they wouldn't believe me."

Rachel reassuringly laid a hand on her mother's shoulder and said, "Mom, it's okay. I believe you."

Coraline smiled back and gently squeezed Rachel's hand. Both beamed at each other with a small chuckle before Coraline got up to put the leftover popcorn back in the fridge. She looked down as she shifted the bowl in her arms before looking up.

To her surprise and confusion, she was back in her parent's apartment except she was standing in the hallway with a newly refurbished look to it, the lights above giving off a warm glow. She whipped her head around to see if her family was in the living room but the doorframe was much wider and accommodated two doors.

These doors were shut completely and were sealed with thick, ruby rope intertwining the brass handles. Coraline tilted her head in confusion and reached to untie the rope. She quickly drew her hand away as the ends of the rope quickly morphed into two snake heads that hissed at her. Startled, she dropped the bowl of popcorn and backed up against the wall, the serpentine rope beginning to flop its two heads down after a few seconds. The chills ran down her spine, chills that she didn't want to feel again since she was eleven.

Panicking she ran into the dining room to find a figure sitting with their back to her. It didn't take her more than ten seconds to realise who this was. He was wearing a familiar scarlet robe with orange dots and black cuffs and lapels and his hair was styled in such a way that it looked like caramel covered whipped cream. This figure also had a long neck just like her father's and sure enough he turned around to reveal himself as the other father, this time with a grin stretched so unnaturally wide by some thread similar to the other Wybie's.

"Welcoooooommmee hoooooome…" the other father drawled through his sutured smile, small tarry tears leaking from behind his button eyes. Stunned and horrified, she shoved him away once he took a step towards her.

Coraline raced to the front door and tugged desperately on the handle, only to pull them away after feeling a burning sensation. After examining her hands for a brief moment, she looked to see the handle melting like candle wax. Her heart started racing about 100 beats per minute as she desperately ran to the kitchen in a panic.

Before she could even reach the doorway, she heard a familiar, sickly sweet voice call out, "Are you hungry, sweetie? I'm cooking something!"

Coraline then bolted up the stairs to her other bedroom, skidding on the second step from the top. As she got back on her feet, she could hear the small clicking and clacking of what sounded like needles on wood getting closer to the stairs.

At last, she managed to reach the bedroom and quickly shut the door behind her, locking it and shoving any bit of furniture to barricade it. One such piece was the trunk that contained toys that the other mother made for her. As she pushed it against the door, she could her them whispering her name in small, whiny, high pitched noises. When she was finished, she quickly backed away and listened for any noises.

Silence filled the room, apart from the noises from the trunk as well as the blood rushing through Coraline's ears.

Suddenly, she heard a small tack on the floor outside. Coraline's feet remained glued to the floor before a loud slam broke the silence, making her jump. The slamming became louder, and louder and Coraline's eyes widened in fear and hopelessness as the furniture barricading the door were violently pushed away. The door was forced open and the last thing she saw was a hand crafted out of needles scratching against the whitewashed door…

She suddenly woke with a gasp and found herself back in front of the TV, much to her relief. As she looked around, she found that it was turned off and a woollen blanket had been draped over her.

Coraline awkwardly got up and stretched. Looking out the window, she could see that it was still dark outside and tiredly made her way to bed. She hadn't had this bad of a nightmare since she was a kid, and that was after finally defeating the other mother for the last time. Still, she was thankful that she doesn't need to explain anything to Rachel, for now.

A/N: Happy Halloween, everybody! I decided to get this out to ye before Halloween, but I was taken over by procrastination and I figured I'd try and get it out whenever I can. Fortunately, I managed to finish it all on Halloween night, and with that, I hope you enjoy it! Goodnight!


End file.
